William Bruce Pitzer joined the United
States Navy in 1934 and was discharged in 1939, having received training
in X-ray technology. He worked as a hospital X-ray technician until 1942
when he re-enlisted, remaining in the Naval Medical Service Corps until
his death at age 49, having served in World War II and the Korean conflict.
He was assistant head of the Medical Graphic Arts Department and chief
of the Television Division at that Naval Medical School, Bethesda, Maryland,
and achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Lieutenant Commander Pitzer was described by
a colleague as the “perfect image of a naval officer.” Another stated:
“His greatest accomplishments were to come up through the ranks and be
an inspiration to other enlisted men and women.”

On November 22, 1963, the autopsy on the body
of John F. Kennedy was led by Dr. James J. Humes. A few days after the
assassination, a colleague, Dennis D. David, claims to have found Pitzer
working on a 16-mm film, slides and black and white photos of the Kennedy
autopsy. David noted that those materials showed what appeared to be a
small entry wound in the right frontal area with a corresponding large
exit wound in the lower rear of the head, inconsistent with shots fired
from behind as stated in the Warren Commission’s report.

According to Humes and others, Pitzer was not
present at the autopsy. However, Humes stated that the Bethesda Naval Hospital
was equipped with closed-circuit television; the use of CCTV as an instructional
tool was a particular interest of Commander Pitzer.

On October 29, 1966, William Pitzer was found
dead in the television studio at the Naval Medical School. Investigations
by the Naval Investigative Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
concluded that a gunshot wound to the right temple had been self-inflicted.
However, rumor that Pitzer had been left-handed led to speculation that
the death was a homicide.

FBI files on the investigation, released in
1997 under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), seemed to support the
theory that Pitzer been murdered. Tests of his right hand indicated no
exposure to gunshot residue. There was no “tattooing” of the skin around
the entry wound; such burn-specks are usually found when a firearm is discharged
in close proximity, and tests indicated that the revolver would have been
held at a distance of more than 3 ft to preclude tattooing. Although Pitzer
had requisitioned the navy-issued revolver found near the body, the FBI
could find no record of his acquiring live ammunition. The autopsy showed
both entry and exit wounds to the head and a third defect in the skull
bone. Furthermore, Pitzer, an inveterate note-maker, did not leave a suicide
note although a writing pad was on a chair near the body.

In 2002, a member of the family, under FOIA,
obtained copies of photographs taken at the autopsy on William Pitzer’s
body. They show what appears to be a tight-contact shot in the right temple,
and an exit wound above and slightly posterior to the left ear. No lesion
is visible in the left temple. Soot deposits on the right and left hands
provide evidence of how the revolver was held so as to preclude “tattooing”
around the entry wound. The third defect in the skull is explainable in
terms of a tight-contact shot causing momentary pressurization of the cranium.
Examination of the methodology used to test for exposure of the right hand
to gunshot residue reveals that the assay was not done properly; other
evidence suggests that, in fact, the right hand was close to the entry
wound at discharge. Furthermore, family members have stated unequivocally
that he was right-handed.

Although the autopsy photographs indicate suicide,
speculation on how William Pitzer died is likely to continue until the
photographs are made available for examination by forensic experts.

Further information is available at http://www.manuscriptservice.com/Pitzer.
JOYCE BRUCE PITZER (Age 92)

Widow of Lieutenant Commander William Bruce
Pitzer, late of Takoma Park, Maryland, died May 7, 2007 in Connecticut
from pneumonia. She is survived by her two sons, William, II of Orick,
California and Robert of North Hollywood, California; sisters-in-law Jeanne
Bruce of Medford, New Jersey, and Elizabeth Rhodes of Laurel, Maryand;
two grandsons Christopher and Stephan Pitzer of Eureka, California; great-grandchildren
and great-great-grandchildren, as well as many loving nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at the Ft.
Myer (Old Post) Chapel at Arlington National Cemetery at 3 p.m. (2:30 p.m.
arrival, please) Wednesday, May 30, burial immediately following. Donations
in lieu of flowers may be sent to Department of Pastoral Care, Washington
Adventist Hospital, 7600 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland 20912.

This
shocking account of intrigue, lies, and governmental complicity provides
dramatic evidence that suggests a larger conspiracy behind JFK's assassination.
Three years after Kennedy's assassination, Lieutenant William Bruce Pitzer,
who was reputed to have in his possession documents and film that refuted
the conclusions of JFK's official autopsy, was found dead in his office
at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1995, a
retired special forces captain claimed that a representative of the CIA
recruited him to assassinate Pitzer. This, as well as the mysterious circumstances
of Pitzer's death and the official and nonofficial investigations that
followed, are outlined. These revelations of a possible conspiracy within
a conspiracy raise larger questions of the measures taken to suppress the
truth and the potential dangers of a government that operates outside the
law. (Book Review)
Posted: 6 August 2006 Updated: 23 August 2006 Updated:
5 September 2006 Updated: 21 May 2007